Australia Has A New Racetrack, And Porsche Has Already Claimed The Lap Record

Between its permanent tracks and temporary street circuits, Australia has no shortage of places to race. And now it has one more. It’s called The Bend Motorsport Park, and it just opened this year. But Porsche has wasted no time in claiming the lap record.

Situated in the town of Tailem Bend, an hour’s drive from Adelaide in South Australia, the $100-million facility runs 7.7 kilometers (4.8 miles) long. That makes it the second longest permanent racing circuit in the world, behind the Nürburgring. So having already raised the bar at the Nordschleife, Porsche took its new 911 GT2 RS to The Bend and set the lap record there, too.

Handling the wheel, paddles, and pedals for the endeavor was one Warren Luff – test-driver for Motor magazine and a seasoned Porsche racer who finished second in the local Carrera Cup. With logistical help from Porsche Cars Australia, Luff set a benchmark lap time of 3:24.079. Not having seen any other lap times from the track, we don’t know how fast that really is, in relative terms. But given the pace that Zuffenhausen’s new flagship has demonstrated elsewhere, it may be some time before anyone comes along to beat the GT2’s top time.

According to the record-keepers at FastestLaps.com, the current GT2 RS also holds the lap records at Magny-Cours, Hockenheim, the Sachsenring, and Willow Springs (to name just a few). Its crowning achievement, though, came when it clocked a 6:47.25 lap time at the Nürburgring last September, beating the 6:52.01 set by sister brand Lamborghini’s Huracan Performante (and even the lither Radicals) to secure its place as the fastest street-legal production car ever to round the notorious ribbon of German asphalt.